OFFICE OF
CULTURAL EDUCATION
INFORMATION
AND TECHNOLOGY PLAN
2005 –
2008
Progress
Report (January 2006)
The OCE
Information and Technology Plan provides a three year blueprint for the major
technology initiatives that OCE must undertake in order to ensure its place as
an education, cultural and information leader in New York State and the
nation. Listed below is a progress
report on each major technology initiative, as well as a description of upcoming
issues.
I. INFORMATION ACCESS
A. Improve the
core technology systems that provide information access to OCE
customers.
Need for
new OCE Electronic Catalog:
Excelsior, the current
electronic catalog for the State Library and State Archives is over 10 years
old, and no longer meets current customer standards. It also does not provide
access to Museum holdings. In order
to provide the highest quality of information access to our users, OCE needs a
new system that is user-friendly, and can provide access to all three
institutions.
Progress to
Date:
- By Spring 2006, we will engage an outside
consulting firm to provide us a recommendation for the kind of information
access and management system we should purchase.
Major
Issues:
·
The
purchase of a new information access and management system will be a major OCE
budget request in SFY 2007-08.
·
Such
information access systems are undergoing revolutionary changes. We must select with care a system with a
relatively long life span (e.g. at least 10 years of usability). It is
unlikely that one system will meet the needs of all
three institutions. We are likely
to need at least two systems with components able to operate with each
other.
B. Expand and improve information
access through the Internet.
-
New
York On Line Virtual
Electronic Library (NOVEL): NOVEL has proven to be a remarkably
cost-effective way to provide broad information access to the people of
New York
State.
Progress to
Date:
·
Currently, there are thousands of
proprietary journals, reference works, and other material in 11 databases
overseen by the State Library. They can be accessed by anyone in
New York, either through
more than 5,200 participating libraries or at home or business.
·
More than 26 million searches were
conducted between June 2004 and June 2005.
Major
Issues:
·
Federal funding, through the Library
Services and Technology Act [LSTA], has supported NOVEL for 6 years. Sustainability of this service requires
transfer of funding to New
York State.
- “One-click” Searching
of OCE Databases: At the present time, an Internet user is
unable to search across the numerous collections of materials available
through the Library, Archives and the Museum. These databases provide access
to thousands of full-text journal and newspaper articles, as well as reference
resources such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories and indexes. After
successful completion of a pilot program that allows “one-click” access to the
Library’s online resources, databases from the Archives and from
curator-specified fields and records in the Museum will be added to this
search system.
Progress to
Date:
·
Visitors to
the Library’s home page can now simultaneously search all of the Library’s licensed databases, the Library’s web
site, Excelsior (the online catalog of the Library and the Archives) and the
catalog of the digital collections maintained by the Library and the
Archives.
Major
Issues:
·
Federal
funding the Library Services and Technology Act [LSTA] was used
to initiate this project. Transfer
of funding support to New
York State
is essential for permanent sustainability.
·
Because
different vendors have different user formats, protocols and use restrictions,
we remain unable to
provide full access to all subscription databases via the “one-click”
search.
- Archives Virtual
Research Collection: Develop and populate a virtual
research collection on the Archives web site. This will be a web-accessible database
that is used to collect, manage and deliver archival collection data. The
initial focus will be to provide access to key records relating to the
Adirondacks and Catskills.
Progress to
Date:
·
The data
entry application for the Virtual Research Collection is complete. Staff can create and export Extensible
Markup Language(xml)-based finding aids as well as import finding aids from partner institutions.
·
The
publicly accessible web-based application should be available by early March,
depending on the approval of the selected vendor.
·
There are
thirty finding aids available on the Archives site, representing each of the
partner institutions. The finding aids were generated from
xml.
Major
Issue:
·
The
Archives selected a vendor with the unusual ability to understand our
requirements. The vendor is
competitively priced, very flexible and accessible. Nevertheless, it is difficult to retain
the vendor of choice through each stage of this and related projects. The ideal solution is to establish a
long-term agreement with the vendor of choice.
- Digital Image
Collection: OCE institutions have enormous collections
of images (e.g. photographs, slides, posters, primary documents). These images, largely related to
New York’s
history and diverse peoples, along with the pertinent information about them,
provide a remarkable resource for students, teachers and researchers. The
challenge is to provide images, along with information about them, that is
easily accessible to all users.
Progress to
Date:
·
A
collaborative initiative among the three institutions has resulted in a Digital
Collections web site.
·
The database currently contains
approximately 20,000 images from our collections in the areas of:
·
Native American culture, digital
images, maps, documents, and works of art related to the environmental history
of New
York;
·
Glass plate negatives and photographic
prints from the Factory Investigating Commission of factory and housing
conditions;
·
Muster roll records from the World War
I New York National Guard units known as the "Harlem
Hellfighters”;
·
Pre-1911 lantern slides for school
environments from the New York State Department of Visual Instruction; and
·
The New York Chamber of Commerce
Portraits(late 18th century to 20th
century).
Major
Issue:
·
This is an
“SED of the Future” issue. Staff capacity dictates our ability to move forward
with this completely new function for all three institutions. We have requested
10 new positions dedicated
to this new function, and are awaiting Division of Budget’s approval for this
request.
·
We have no
depth in expertise. We need to “grow our own” with new staff and with ongoing,
cutting-edge staff development opportunities.
- Web
Access and Public Outreach: An environmental scan of web sites from other
cultural institutions clearly shows that OCE web sites still need a great deal
of work in terms of graphic design, ease of use, and the timeliness of
information provided.
Progress to
Date:
·
The
Archives developed a new design and navigation scheme expected to debut in
March.
·
Posting of
large numbers of back issues in the Museum’s Bulletin series on the Library’s
government documents web site provides universal access to out-of-print
bulletins containing significant scientific and historical information on New
York State.
·
A Web
usability study conducted in the fall of 2004 engendered positive changes.
·
The Library Home page was redesigned to
accommodate the pilot “one-click” search.
Major
Issues:
·
Capacity
issues and need for nimble response to changing technologies mean that, in
certain instances, we may be required to seek outside consulting
assistance to improve
these web sites.
·
Digital
standards keep changing. Institutions must attempt to strike a balance
between the latest innovations in making information available and the users’
inexperience and reluctance to install the latest web browser.
- Development of
sophisticated web-based access tools: Web resources provided by OCE programs
are often content-rich, and support research use by a variety of
constituents. More sophisticated
tools and approaches, as are used in other cultural institutions, need to be
expanded to assist users in obtaining “deep web”
information.
Progress to
Date:
·
The State
Archives is developing pathfinders and related approaches to guide researchers
in identifying relevant resources in its holdings, as well as linking to other
historical records institutions around the State.
·
The State
Archives and Library are
investigating the use of xml to streamline content production and
distribution.
Major
Issues:
·
The
Archives has identified a number of technical solutions to the challenges we face, such as
implementing affordable advanced search tools and providing repositories
throughout the state the ability to update their own finding aids through our
site.
·
However, our limited ability to retain
vendors of choice restricts progress.
II.
EDUCATIONAL AND ON-SITE SERVICES
A. Use electronic technology to provide
the highest quality of educational services possible to students, teachers,
parents and the public at large.
- Informal and Distance
Education: The transformational power of technology as
an educational tool can eliminate the barriers between formal and informal
education. It is our
responsibility to be at the forefront of this revolution. Over the coming three years we will
explore strategies for using technology more effectively to provide informal
education.
Progress to
Date:
·
In
partnership with the Schenectady school district, through Project View, the State Museum
conducts science and hhistory classes based
on its collections in the institution.
·
·
There are five juvenile facilities that
also have already used Project View or that are scheduled for a class.
·
·
·
·
Museum -
Accurate? Do you have a more descriptive sentence? During the year, Museum after-school
program participants make use of the computer lab set up for their use on the
first floor of the Museum to complete homework assignments, conduct research and
enhance their writing skills.
During the summer, campers use the computers for a wide variety of
educational projects, including the development of session end video
productions.
Major
Issues:
·
·
·
·
Major
IssuesIn this area, our
aspirations are far ahead of capacity. We need to build our educational staff to develop programs
and educational tools and in the bandwidth available to conduct a vigorous
distance-learning program.
- Teacher
Education: OCE will use the Internet and other technologies to
provide teacher education.
Progress
to Date:
·
Development
of a document-based
question (DBQ) website
formatted to look like the DBQs used on State Regents exams. This site provides
images from the Archives, with tips on pedagogy for teachers at each grade
level.
Major
Issues:
·
In
addition to expertise in developing the educational material, we require staff
to integrate the intellectual content with our many related but technically
separate online resources.
B. Improve
the on-site experience of the visitors to the OCE
institutions.
- Wireless
Network: Capacity to use wireless technology has
become commonplace in many libraries, archives and museums throughout the
State and nation. It is the
expectation of researchers to find this capacity in any major research
institution. Not providing similar services in major research institutions
such as ours will prevent us from providing good customer service.
Progress
to Date:
·
The Library
recently installed a wireless network on the public floor of the Library,
working with an outside provider.
Major
Issues:
·
While
wireless networks are now common-place in most cultural institutions in the
nation, the issues of
security that are legitimate concerns in a governmental environment make
information technology staff wary of providing that kind of environment for any
part of the State Education Department.
·
Therefore, we have had difficulty
adopting some of the new technological innovations already prevalent in college
and public libraries.
- Museum Exhibit
Galleries: An integral part of the renewal of the
Museum must include the use of state-of-the-art technologies. This means that both the hardware
(e.g. interactive computers, plasma screens, video equipment, wireless
audio) and the content must be meaningful to the visitor at all times.
Progress to
Date:
·
With the support of the Division of
Budget, we have made a great deal of progress in acquiring and integrating new
technologies in the Museum galleries, including:
·
Video
projection systems and ___
interactive
computers;
o
·
Museum
– give examplesIn the
near future, inclusion of relevant video clips, not only from the Museum, but
also from the Archives, Library and Public Broadcasting; and
·
Major video
projection components in the New York Hall, Adirondack Wilderness galleries and special
exhibitions.
Major
Issues:
·
In order to
maintain the momentum, we are need expertise to build on the progress already
made and coordinate with other technology initiatives (e.g.
providing virtual Museum tours via the Internet.)
III. COLLECTION MANAGEMENT AND
PRESERVATION
A. Improve electronic collection management
systems.
1.
Electronic Collections Management
Systems: Currently there are four different collection
management systems in the three institutions. In the coming three years, any new information
access and management system (See I.A.
above) must be able to incorporate the key collection management functions
currently provided by these several systems. In addition, the Museum’s
electronic catalog system has been recently upgraded. Staff will continue to assess its
effectiveness in meeting Museum collection management needs.
Progress to
Date:
See I.A. on the first
page, above.
Major
Issues:
·
A
collection management system is only as good as the content it tracks. As we plan for the future, the Museum
must increase collection management staff with technological expertise in order
to inventory and input information on its massive and diverse collections from
different disciplines and with different protocols for description, for
example:
·
World Trade
Center collection (1200 cu. ft.)
·
Film/Video/Audio (3000 tapes, 200 films, 960
cu. ft. flat materials [prints, negatives])
·
Decorative
Arts (15 collections/5500 objects)
·
Social
History (200 cu ft)
·
"Other"
history (4800 objects)
·
Anthropology
·
South
Street Seaport Museum collection (2 million objects/2000 cu ft)
·
Paleontology
·
Stratigraphy
Collection (967,000 objects)
·
Geology
·
Mineralogy
(3 collections/10,000 objects)
·
Biology
·
Bryophytes
(29,000 specimens)
·
Mycology
(88,000 specimens)
·
Vascular
Plants (200,000 specimens)
·
Bird nests
and eggs (4400 specimens)
·
Malacology
(60,000 specimens)
·
Entomology
(1,003,000 specimens)
·
The State
Archives is currently using three different systems to track different
information and tasks. All three systems are outdated and need upgrading as well
as integration. As a future system is identified, components that
are not included must be addressed by other systems and the systems must be able
to interact.
2.
Collection
Inventory Locator System: Once
funding for the new collection and research facility is approved, staff must
plan the move of the vast collections currently housed in the CEC, the Records
Center, and other storage facilities.
Progress to
Date:
·
The
Executive Budget provides authority to move forward on a new
facility.
Major
Issues:
1.
The recent
discovery of asbestos in the Records Center will require immediate attention to
the State records stored there. Once test results are completed, next steps will
be quickly taken to minimize service interruption. It is likely to require the
moving of up to over 200,000 boxes. We should have a better sense of the
magnitude of the move by the time of the Regents meeting and are hoping the
figure will be far lower.
B. Address collection preservation needs
using electronic technology.
1. Collection
Needs Assessment Systems:
The State Archives Electronic
Needs Assessment System (which is a preservation, accessioning, access and
collection management tool) will be upgraded. In addition, the State Library will be
conducting a preservation needs assessment study in the coming year. It is likely that once the Library’s
initial study is completed, it will be necessary to electronically track the
specific areas in need of preservation work.
Progress to
Date:
·
The State
Archives Needs Assessment System (NAPS) allows the Archives to efficiently and effectively
manage its collections. We can determine the amount of work that has been
accomplished, the needs of the collection, and plan for improved preservation
and access activities.
Major
Issues:
·
The current
Needs Assessment System
needs to be updated to a more recent version of Access or to Oracle. We also
need to better integrate it with our other management
systems.
·
Upgrading or migrating the system will
be challenging.
2.
Electronic
Records Preservation: State government publications and other governmental
records increasingly originate in electronic format. This creates a major challenge in terms
of both preserving these records and insuring that they will be in a format that
will continue to make them accessible for future generations. The State Library has been scanning
paper documents and publications from State agencies since 1995. There are over
30,000 documents (1.5 million pages) preserved in electronic format and
available through Excelsior.
Progress to
Date:
·
The Library
and the Archives are working on major digital scanning projects to both preserve
fragile paper books and documents and provide improved access to the
public. These projects include
development of the Digital Collection Database and scanning of images (See
I.A.4)
·
Since 2003,
the Library has extended
its Document Depository Program to include "harvesting" born-digital documents
from New York State agency Web sites and adding them to our collection of
electronic documents, so that they will be preserved even if they are later
removed from the originating agency's site.
·
The State
Archives is developing procedures and constructing a hardware and software array
that will enable it to take custody of and preserve archival electronic
records in the file
formats most commonly used by state agencies.
·
OCE is
working with colleagues on a national digital preservation initiative sponsored
by National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Project
(NDIIP). As this initiative
progresses we expect there
will be funding to address this important issue.
Major
Issues:
·
The
preservation of electronic records is of great national and international
concern. The ever-increasing
reliance on electronic means for communication (e.g. e-mail, web sites) by governmental
officials, researchers and others has major implications on how we preserve our
history and other information for future generations.
·
The
Archives Electronic Record program is only two years old. While we gained
theoretical tools needed
to address the preservation challenges posed by electronic records, we still
lack the expertise and information technology infrastructure needed to put
theory into practice.
·
In
addition once we have the technical knowledge and infrastructure we will face
the challenge of communicating the preservation requirements to the information
technology professionals who will design it and set it up. They must then have
the resources needed to construct and maintain the system and to guide its
evolution or eventual replacement.
·
Meanwhile, we must realize that some
state agencies are creating electronic document management systems and using
electronic communication systems (e.g., e-mail) without making certain that
information that warrants long-term or permanent preservation remains unaltered
and accessible. The loss of this
information may, in the short term, cause legal problems for the creating entity
and will, in the long term, leave significant gaps in the historical
record.
·
The
constant pace of
technological change will continue to challenge us. Digital formats keep
changing: unlike paper, where documents can be stored indefinitely, digital
documents must be migrated to new formats as standards
change.
·
The enormous volume of
digital information overwhelms capacity. Although computers keep getting smaller and faster, the amount of
digital information is growing even faster. How do we preserve, index and make
available all of this information?
